OK, first things first. A seven-month absence from this blog? I know. It doesn’t feel that long, but here we are. Various reasons: my save file going a bit bonkers for a while, a LOT of real life, having a bit more fun playing the Dayes and the Knights… anyway, we’re back. How often I will update I can’t say, but hopefully more than I have been doing.

I only recently realised how many twenty-somethings this town has, so I thought I’d bring them together, in what’s essentially a direct continuation from the last post. My playing style is just to see where the mood takes me, and I happened to be flicking between the different people in their twenties the last couple of times I played.

You’ve already met the artists – but when we saw Anita last time, I don’t think Carlotta was there. I like the sisters, I think there’s interesting things that can happen with them. Fia and George don’t really speak and she and Anita do end up spending most of their time at the artists’ space. The exhibition is coming on so it might not be that long before it actually happens – within the next couple of posts, I expect.

Tamara’s attractiveness to men is genuine – we saw the Mortimer thing last time, but this happened when she chatted to Rowan, and Kenjo genuinely looked utterly forlorn the whole time she talked to Mortimer.

Tamara is in a shared house with Emma Hatch, Tori Kimura and Olenski Populous who was one of the kids in my WYDC challenge story. The very eagle-eyed among you may have spotted another familiar face from one of my stories…

…Alfie Win Kyoti also lives in the hood. As you’ll have seen from the chapter, there are a bunch of YAs from the EA hoods scattered about. No idea who I’ll actually play with, but that’s the fun of it, right?

Tamara had noticed him for the first time at the fundraiser for the art show. He must have been twenty-five years her senior, but there was a twinkle in his eye that she couldn’t resist. They chatted for hours as they dipped in and out of Emma’s homemade guacamole and drank Sally’s sangria-inspired punch. When he left, he patted her arm and kissed her cheek and the hairs on her body stood to attention.

Emma had warned her to stay away, that he was a married man, that he had kids, that he had form. But Tamara knew only one thing – no man had got her as turned on as this one and she was determined that things would go further…

Kenji had hoped that night would be his chance to tell Tamara how he felt. But she spent all evening talking to Mortimer Goth. When Kenji was a student there were all kinds of rumours about Mortimer, and he didn’t doubt that they were all true.

He knew Tamara was the kind of girl who could take care of herself – but he wished it could be him taking care of her.

Emma told him to steer clear, that Tamara was clearly capable of making her own decisions and her own mistakes. He knew Emma thought he wasn’t Tamara’s type. But you can’t help who you fall for…

—

Burned dinner for one again. George knew there was an irony in a firefighter burning his own food on a regular basis. Fia had always been the one who could cook, whilst he was the one who was good around the home.

The wall art she’d created when they were students sat mocking him. It had all been so different when they were at university, before the pressures of work. She was stil the most dazzling, most captivating, most heart-thumpingly exciting girl he’d ever met. But he wasn’t sure he could cope with exciting much longer.

Two days until the show. Her work just wasn’t good enough, it just wasn’t what she wanted. She could call it a night, go home, see George. The thought made her feel sick and she didn’t even know why. She didn’t want to be here, she didn’t want to go home. She wished she was back at university. No. She wished she was… she wished… tears rolled down her face and splashed onto her sketch. Fia had no idea what she wanted.

—

Anger. It had never been one of Anita’s motivations. Her paintings were usually a riot of colour, but since her sister had come to stay, all she saw was red. Carlotta had said she was just going to stay for a week or two until the army sorted her out with some digs. It had been two months. Anita felt bad – her sister had come back from Gaza, she was trying to adjust to life back home, it couldn’t be easy – but the flat was her place, and it wasn’t very big. Carlotta took over the whole place – her mess, her insistence on exercising in the lounge, the stupid cop dramas she liked to watch.

‘So why don’t you just ask her to move out?’

‘It’s not that easy, Hailey.’

‘Sure it is. It’s your flat.’

‘She’s my sister.’

‘And?’

‘And… I don’t know. I think something’s wrong – she came back from duty early, the army haven’t sorted her a place out yet. I think she’s having problems – she just won’t tell me what they are.’

‘I’m so glad you’re here. She’s in the living room, come in.’

Personal trainer to a teenager whose mother thought she needed ‘discipline’ wasn’t something Carlotta had ever dreamed of – and the money she was going to get from it was small change. But she had to take work where she could find it. She had to do what she could to stop Anita finding out the truth.

And so Carlotta Lobos went in to meet River McIrish.

—

Tori was nervous. It was the first party she’d ever thrown. What if no-one came? The other girls she shared a house with had told her not to be silly, but she couldn’t help it. She’d always been a worrier.

It seemed so easy for them. Olenski was confident, outgoing and funny. She’d come from a large family and so she was up for anything. Emma was a great chef, Tamara was never short of admirers, but she? She was just a ghost compared to them, just background, just… nothing special.

They’d invited lots of people from around town. Serena turned up with kimchi pancakes. Becky turned up empty-handed – as usual.

George arrived without his partner…

…as did Rowan.

Tamara saw her chance. Rowan was one of those guys who didn’t know just how attractive he was. She never understood why he was with Jamie Jolina, but if Jamie hadn’t come tonight, maybe that indicated all wasn’t rosy. Besides, she was sick of waiting for Mortimer Goth to text her – she was a free agent, she could pursue whatever and whomever she chose to.

Emma watched her friend and sighed. One day Tamara might actually set her sights on someone she could have. One day Tamara might actually see herself as being worth someone’s complete attention rather than feeling the need to compete with other women.

But as Tamara inched closer to Rowan and he to her, she could see that day wasn’t going to come any time soon.

Sims are never really what you expect. These latest play sessions are testament to that. My main aim was to play with the artists, although I’ve also been flicking between the Goths, McIrish/Frenches and Keatons a little bit.

The artists’ homes have had a bit of a makeover since my last post about them. Loads of my CC has vanished, presumably after some patch or other, but I really can’t be bothered to do much about it, so I’ve just renovated instead. I like Fia and George’s place more now anyway.

To be honest, I like all of the artists’ homes a lot more than I like the sims themselves.

I anticipated Fia and George’s story would be all ‘ooh, the conflicts of being different’ with her being arty and him less so – but it seems they couldn’t care less about their differences. Or about anything much.

In fact, the only interesting things the three households in the artists’ block are doing are using each other’s beds, chairs, cookers etc (more annoying than interesting)…

…and George extinguishing some waffles Jeannie left cooking.

I’ll play them a bit still as I want to get this art exhibition happening, but as for telling their stories – that’s less likely unless they do something of note.

I’ve started building homes for people like Lemoine and Sally who you saw in the update, who weren’t even meant to be anything other than background… but I fancy designing for them, so maybe you’ll see more of them.

By far the most interesting thing that happened when I played with the artists was seeing these two in the kitchen at the party autonomously getting friendly. So I quickly shifted households…

Oh yeah. This is going to be fun.

Speaking of fun, the Millers were only ever thrown in as a background family. They come from Appaloosa Plains and they were all bedecked in horsey gear, which kind of looked a bit daft, so I decided to give the mum a makeover. And when I was in the household, I saw this…

Couple that epic (game-attributed) LTW with a military dad a story is born…

Already I am having a LOT of fun with Maisy in pursuit of her LTW so expect to see more from her soon. Her parents I’m still getting to grips with, but she is amazing. I love her.

I love new moodlets – this is from the tablet computer.

The school disco was the game’s prom, and when that appeared just after selecting Maisy’s household, it was too good to resist. But more on prom, and on her and Davy, next time we see them. Funnily enough, this is the girl I’d expected to play a similar storyline with – a remake of one of my TS2 sims – but now I’m more interested in Maisy than Kelly, so I’m excited to see if their paths ever cross…

Jeannie Marshall was incredibly excited. The Kingsfield artists’ collective were preparing for their first exhibition. In just a few months’ time, they would be hosting an event at the warehouse they’d turned into their studios and gallery. All they’d been labouring over for these last couple of years would be worth it as people finally got to see what they were all about.

The collective had been the idea of her friend Anita Lobos. They’d studied art at university at the same time, and Anita had been well connected with others in the community – arts promoters like Jenny Deeds and CeCe Spicer, performance artists like Lemonie Snicket and a whole host of others. CeCe Spicer had managed to persuade the warehouse owners to allow the artists to rent the space on a five-year lease for a very low rent and so they’d been using the space ever since to paint and sculpt and perform and write.

Anita had alerted Jeannie to the fact that there were lettings available in the small block of flats next to the warehouse, and they’d taken one each. Other creatives had moved into other flats in the block as they’d become vacant and they began to work as a community.

The newest residents were Fia Magnus and her partner George Saint. Fia had recently graduated and was determined to make it as a fashion designer.

Fia was incredibly nervous about the upcoming exhibition. Her parents had expressed strong disapproval about her chosen career path. There was no money in it, they said. What if they were right?

She barely even saw George these days, she was so busy getting her designs just right. And he’d taken on a new job at the fire station and was working irregular shifts.

It wasn’t exactly what he dreamed of, but it was steady, well-paid work and Fia needed him to support her whilst she was getting herself established. It also gave them a good link into the community – perfect when he needed people to invite to fundraising parties.

CeCe was a real hub of the community and she loved hosting the parties at her place. George was getting used to these shindigs. They weren’t his natural home – he’d much rather be playing XBox with Liam and Richie – but they were a good opportunity to get to know people in the town and to show off Fia’s designs.

Lemonie wore one of Fia’s latest designs…

…as did Anita for her session with fellow musician Sally.

A couple of dozen residents attended that evening, from students to business leaders. Money was raised, partnerships secured…

Maisy Miller was sick of her father constantly berating her to work. Sixteen years old and she had never let him down yet, and with exams on the horizon, she had no intention of doing so.

She knew he was being a typical overprotective military dad. She knew it wouldn’t be so bad if she weren’t an only child. But it still bugged her.

Quincy Miller swung his club frustration. Maisy would be at the school disco tonight – assuming she finished her homework. He could well remember what school discos were like from when he was a teenager and he expected that, if anything, this new generation would be even worse.

His wife Jacqui kept reminding him that Maisy was sixteen, almost an adult, and she’d been a good girl all this time. Her grades were good and she was destined to do well in her exams.

Sometimes she reminded him that they hadn’t even been much older than Maisy when they met: he embarking on his first tour of duty in Cyprus, her a military kid bored during the summer after her A-Levels. Eighteen years old. Eighteen years ago.

Still, he thought as he whacked the ball with a huge force. There would be sixteen year old boys at the disco. And sixteen year old boys only had one thing on their minds.

Maisy grabbed a bag of clothes as she left. She would change at River’s, she told them. She promised not to be late home.

‘Yeah, so I’m meeting him at his place and getting ready there. Yeah, if they call, please tell them I’m at yours. Don’t let your mum answer the phone. Cheers, River, I owe you one.’

Alibi sorted, Maisy dropped her phone in her pocket and went to meet Davy. Her plan was to change at his… and maybe get in some other activities too. They’d arranged to go to the disco a couple of weeks ago and she’d suggested changing at his. She saw this as the perfect opportunity to unburden herself of her virginity. The magazines always said to save yourself for someone special, but she didn’t really see the point. It was just a physical act, and so what if he wasn’t ‘the one’, he was attractive enough, and he was a good kisser – and she was sixteen, time enough to be getting on with it.

But when she arrived… ‘So, my parents are home and they’ve set up the spare room for you to change in. I’ll meet you in the hallway in about half an hour’.

She hurried out of her clothes and into her dress, flushed with frustration. This wasn’t how she’d planned things.

As she waited for him to come down and join her, she wondered whether she was ever going to get time alone with him.

But as they entered the school hall and she realised the number of glances the slit in the top of her dress and the shortness of her hemline were getting, she realised her options were a lot more open than she realised. And if Davy wouldn’t give her what she wanted… she was pretty sure she could find it somewhere else…

So, the Goths then. I always imagined Bella and Morty would have quite a hot sex life, and often an angry one. So apologies if you found their chapter a little ‘fruity’. There’s going to be some sex and swearing and possibly violence in Kingsfield from time to time, but I’ll always give a warning.

Morty’s a bad ‘un though. Every time I play another household he seems to have a woman in his thrall. He called both Jamie and Jeannie when I was at their homes.

Sheba, the Kline cat, wants to be his best friend.

Other than that, you kind of know how the Goths are doing from their last behind-the-scenes update.

Jamie keeps getting demoted – not sure I’ll write that in, but she sure ain’t progressing – hence their money troubles. Still, at least Rowan has remodelled Jamie’s house a bit – I kept some things as they were.

The Klines were another family I used to play in TS1. They were called Kleinhaus back then because they, er, lived in a small house. So witty.

Biographies will come at some point, but not yet as I don’t really have the motivation (sorry).

Ravi was the first sim I ever killed in any game. He was such a miserable so and so in TS1 that I murderised him – can’t remember whether it was by pool or fire though. For now I’m keeping him alive, but he better watch his back.

Rima and Cassandra were friends as kids and I’m really interested to see them as teens. Look what Rima rolled up as a want…

Saddest slumber party ever?

Rhana works in business – but probably not for much longer.

Mortimer is the town lothario and I’m not that interested in another sim being the same, but if he keeps rolling up these kind of wants… (Zoe is one of the third year students, by the way). Also: he really hates Cassandra.

They live in one of the nicer SV houses – I haven’t modified it too much.

As for the McIrish/French home, I made over the sims a little but kept them similar to the characters EA created. I’d never played them before so was surprised Molly was a ‘heartbreaker’, but OK – we’ll go with this and let her be a bit flighty. The game has the two women as best friends, but they’re different ages and have little in common, so I’ve made them cousins instead as it seems a little more plausible.

The cat thing was accidental – the game offered River a pet from one of the phone opportunities you get when families have them for adoption. And now she wants to do the cat loving LTW.

Fiona works in science and wants to write sci-fi novels (her LTW is pro author), so this could be fun. With Sandi’s borthday on the horizon, they’ll also be host to my first neighbourhood party next play session.

Rhana had heard the arguments so many times before: why Rima wanted to go to the local school, why Ravi wanted her to board. She had to admit, she’d had reservations about sending Rima to the state school as well, but the girl knew her mind – she was like her parents in that respect. And Ravi’s concerns about the Goth girl seemed unfounded – although her father seemed to be the town flirt and her mother the town lush, the girl herself seemed relatively stable.

Neither Rima or Cassandra had seemed to make other friends naturally, so it was nice they had each other.

‘Well, my girl. You just make sure your standards don’t slip. By the way, honey, I have to work late tonight. Schmoozing some clients again. Such a drag. I’m sorry’.

Ravi was trying desperately to become the CEO of a big corporation but he was still climing the management ladder right now, hoping someone would drop off their perch and leave a vacancy, or maybe that he would be head-hunted. However it happened, he needed to, as they say, ‘make friends and influence people’

Taking clients to restaurants, tasting the drinks menus at bars, hosting parties… it was a hard job, but someone had to do it.

After all, nothing paid for itself – not their luxurious beach house, not Rima’s clothing and school books, not the upkeep of his wife’s damn Persian. Sheba she called it. That was asking for trouble, wasn’t it? For she surely did consider herself queen of all she surveyed.

Unlike Ravi, Rhana had no great ambitions to climb the greasy ladder. She was happy – ish – with her office job. It wasn’t what she got up for every morning, it certainly didn’t inspire that kind of passion in her, but it was a steady 9-5 and she had plenty of time in the evenings to chill out, see friends, spend time with Rima or play with Sheba. Maybe one day she’d think of something more challenging to do – but for now she’d rather take a bubble bath than burn the midnight oil. She wasn’t jealous of Ravi in the slightest. Slightly begrudging that he wasn’t home enough, perhaps. Slightly. Maybe. But not jealous.

—

‘So yeah, I was thinking everyone could come over at five on Friday and she could blow out the candles at six. Yeah, yeah, bring a bottle. Or two hahahaha. Yeah, of course she’s cool with it. See you then, honey. Bye!’

Attendees now invited to Sandi’s birthday party, Molly French decided she deserved a little down-time. A quick DVD before tea time would suffice.

River McIrish was sick of being the default babysitter whenever Molly felt like doing anything other than caring for her little girl. Molly was all sweetness and light and ‘but she loves you River, she looks up to you’ and ‘I’ll do your hair and make-up for you, make you look pretty, honey’ and before she knew it, River always ended up holding the baby. It was only because her mum refused to and she wasn’t good enough at saying no to adults yet.

She liked the girl, and she wouldn’t mind babysitting her if it wasn’t all the time. When were the Frenches going to leave anyway? Her mother had said they’d only be there a short while, just while Molly ‘got herself together’, but it had been two years now. At least Sandi was growing up and wouldn’t be a baby much longer. That was something.

But sometimes it got too much, and when Sandi started crying and wouldn’t stop (which happened more often than River would like), River hated that. This time she’d had it. Molly was in, she could take care of her own stupid kid. ‘I’m off out. See you later’.

Before Molly could protest, River was out of the door.

Whilst she was jogging around town to clear her head, she caught sight of a series of posters stapled to telegraph poles – all advertising kittens – free to a good home. She remembered all the times she’d begged her mum for a cat when she was little. ‘When you’re older. When you can be responsible’. Well, she was older now, and if she was trusted with Sandi so often, that must mean she was responsible. She picked up the phone and called.

‘Are you sure your mum’s authorised this, young lady?’

‘Absolutely. She’s just working late, at the lab in town. She’s really excited about having the cat’.

‘Well, OK, but we’ll give her a call later this week just to check she’s settled in OK and everything’s fine’.

‘I’m sure she’ll be glad to speak to you’.

River named the kitten Olive and snuck the cat and a tray of pet food into her bedroom before Molly (currently trying to put a screaming Sandi to bed) could hear.

She would talk to mum about it… but not just yet. She was always cranky after a late shift and it would be better to catch her when she’d slept well.

Molly rubbed her eyes blearily and looked at her mobile. Two am. What WAS that noise? She went over to Sandi’s crib, but the little girl was sleeping soundly. She crept into the living room.

What the hell?

She knocked gently on her cousin’s bedroom door. ‘Fiona? Fiona? Are you awake?’

Fiona McIrish dragged herself out of bed. Molly better not be getting her up to look after Sandi again.

The artists’ quarter is starting to take shape. I’ve got a warehouse which is going to double as an artists’ studio and gallery, and a set of flats where the local artists live.

I downloaded this apartment block by Ritsuka and fiddled with it so now the whole top floor is habitable – as one household, not several. There are three separate flats in the block, and five sims live there. There’s scope for more to move in downstairs – no plans for that yet, but it’s an option should gameplay and storylines lead that way.

The flat Ritsuka designed is pretty much as it was (although not all of the furniture works with Pets so have changed out a few items). Fia Magnus and George Saint live here.

I created these two for a GoS challenge originally. She’s a fashion designer. He works in… something like firefighting? They’re university sweethearts who are in their first home together.

As my adult sims haven’t had the chance to go to university, I’m giving them a few skill points to start them off. The artists all work as self-employed apart from Fia who’s in fashion design. This is the workshop end of their old warehouse – there are work spaces dedicated to creative writing, fashion, painting, sculpting, inventing and video art.

I’ve put some art around to make it feel a bit lived in. The art they actually produce will go into the gallery space and when there is sufficient art work, I’ll get them to hold an exhibition.

The gallery has a balcony area – all that’s up there at the moment is a bathroom, but I will probably add more rooms later.

Also in the artists’ quarter are Jeanie Marshall who wants to be a Descendant of Da Vinci so dabbles in several arts, and the Lobos sisters from Riverview – all grown up. Anita is the artist and is the one who lives in the artists’ district whilst Carlotta is in the military and temporarily living with her sister.

The Kingsfield chess tournament was imminent and Cass Goth was determined that this would be her year. As usual, Rima was a willing volunteer for practising on, although Rima had never actually been much of a challenger. Still, Cass had no intention of playing the one person who would be a challenge, her father.

Chess had once been something she and Mortimer had always enjoyed, but the older she got, the less she appreciated his pickiness. Every single move she made would be challenged and dissected. It was like everything else she did – just not good enough for him.

Jamie and Rowan were also frequent chess players. He was hoping to enter the tournament himself, and Jamie was doing everything she could to encourage him. The prize money may have been small but every little mattered to them. Rowan’s handyman business had hit a lull with the recession, and there were fewer clients than usual. Had they known this, they would have held off on the renovations they made to their home – but as it was, they’d sunk far too much money into it for their own comfort. Even with Rowan doing most of the hard work, materials didn’t come cheap.

Rowan was much more laid back than his girlfriend about their financial situation. He believed that things would always turn out well, whereas Jamie was a natural born worrier. And the one who paid the mortgage.

Thursday Goth hated the daytime. The stupid childminder always put her in a cot for a nap, but she was three now, a big girl, and she didn’t need a silly nap.

Thursday lived for her father coming home from work. He would always play with her – her favourite game was to hide from the claw as it came to tickle her… and sometimes she tickled him back and he giggled so loudly she thought he would explode.

Bella had taken to sleeping in the day. There wasn’t much else to do. She had yet to find work and the childminder was there to take care of Thursday. Thankfully. That girl cried more than any child Bella had ever known.

The doctor had told her she had post-natal depression. But it had been three years now and the lead in her stomach, the wash of sadness and the sense of emptiness had yet to leave her. She’d tried so many medications: fluoxetine, seroxat, mirtazipine, trazodone, citalopram… all they ever gave her was headaches, nausea and a dry mouth. She didn’t see the point in taking them. She’d tried therapy, but Mortimer said it was a waste of money and so that had stopped. Bella wanted something, anything, to break into her monotony.

She’d tried working in town but all she’d been able to find in terms of work were waitressing and shop jobs. She didn’t last long at either; the repetitive nature of the work had only served to increase her frustration. Sometimes, when the childminder was out with Thursday and the cleaner had finished for the day and Mortimer and Cass weren’t home yet, Bella would hunch her knees up to her chin and sit on the floor, and rock, and cry. But the moment she heard footsteps on the driveway or a key clicking into the lock, she would run to the bathroom, run herself a shower and clean herself back up to face them once more.

When she did leave the house, it was to go to a bar, or a coffee shop, or the swimming pool. She’d taken to wearing ever more daring outfits, hoping someone would notice her body, hoping someone would notice her.

Every night Jamie would come home from work and ask Rowan how business was going. And every night, instead of a reply, he would sweep her into a kiss – a kiss that frequently ended in the bedroom. She could never really work out if he was excited to see her or avoiding the question. But every time he touched her she trembled, even now, even after all these years.

Still, they couldn’t survive on sex alone, and with the upcoming budget cuts at work, she was beginning to worry that Rowan wasn’t taking things as seriously as she was.

Jamie started swotting hard for a promotion – she was considering taking the surgical track – it wasn’t something she’d ever really fancied, but the money was much better, and that was her driving force.

And sometimes, just occasionally, when she caught Rowan upgrading his PC yet again rather than scouring the neighbourhood for work, a thought crossed her mind. Was she dating someone who was still a child?

When Mortimer Goth came in from work, he heard the roar of water from the shower. He tried the bathroom door – sometimes Bella left it unlocked as an invitation. It opened and he stepped in, softly. He stood for a few moments and watched his wife. Her body was as firm as it ever was and he felt himself stiffen as he saw her hands moving over her flesh. He suddenly felt an urgency to have her – an urgency he’d not experienced for some time.

Without undressing, he stepped into the shower. He unzipped his fly and shook his trousers and pants down around his ankles. With both hands, he grabbed his wife by the waist and ran his hands roughly over her body, before lifing her onto him and taking her from behind.

Bella groaned, part in pleasure, part in pain as her husband entered her. She placed her palms flat against the cold tiles as he writhed underneath her. At least this was something she could feel, she thought, as the day’s tears continued to flow down her face.

Justine and Marty Keaton seem to be that rare thing – Sunset Valley townies that very few people seem to have played: certainly I’ve only read a couple of blogs with them in (and those only recently), and so I wanted to play them and see what they were like. I gave Justine a makeover immediately because the way EA styled her did nothing for her. I think I’ve pretty much left Marty as he was, though.

Their story has kind of developed from what they wanted. The game sets Justine up to be a cop and Marty an athlete, but she wanted to join the architecture career and chucked up lots of artistic wants, so I changed her career path and made her LTW the one where you have to master painting and photography. He chucked up the want to be a firefighter so I let him – and a back-story was born.

Their house is relatively unchanged from the EA one – Justine will probably fix it up when she has time and when they have money, but it’s not their first priority. In the EA game they have a nursery set up, so I’ve left that there even though in the story it doesn’t exist yet (/lazy simmer).

When I play the architecture career with the Dayes, I just go for meeting the requirements, but this time I’m doing it to match the characters’ style as well.

I don’t have any active plans to play Billy Caspian, but you never know.

She got the chance to makeover the student halls as well – but they wanted their bathroom doing and I wasn’t changing it, so I simply replaced the existing stuff with… the same stuff.

I also took the liberty to decorate a couple more of their bedrooms as I’d only got round to doing three of them.

Don’t know what business students have with being so fussy!

I have a confession to make. When the Keatons start in the game, Justine’s pregnancy shows almost straight away, and I was so busy playing with the Jolina-Moss and Goth households that I forgot to keep my eye on the Keatons and they had the baby when I wasn’t ready. So I total killed him and got her pregnant again. Bad, bad simmer.

Anyway, to make up for this, she went to the spa, where various townies were kicking about, including the old dog lady from Apaloosa Plans, who’s apparently in the army now. Um, ‘kay, game, whatever.

When I clicked on the spa, I noticed a new (to me) interaction – to visit the matchmaker. I don’t know if this is an EA thing or a Twallan thing – anyone?

Jeannie Marshall, a sim I created for a GoS challenge a while ago, who will be living in the artist’s district once I build it, was kicking about, so I switched to her to get her to investigate. She had the option to choose a male to get the matchmaker to investigate so we chose a random member of the roller derby team. The pop up said he would be interested in her calling. So there we are. Maybe one day I’ll follow that up, but it seems more of a Dayes thing.

Also hanging about in town – more roller derby people: Dinah Mighty and Tiger Killy (and the guy Marty is talking to in the chapter is Barack O’Jammer).

Also in town, a household of single ladies: Emma Hatch, Olenski Populous, Tamara Donner and Tori whose-surname-I-forget. Tori and Tamara have had makeovers. I don’t know if I’ll play these guys or not yet, but I’m kind of intrigued because Tamara is a bitch in everyone else’s stories.

My sims have never really encountered her though, so we’ll see.

The noisiest stray cat ever stopped by their house. Maybe I’ll let them get a cat one day.

I’m away at the moment with limited computer access, so biographies and house tours will have to wait until I get back – but just a brief introduction to Rowan and Jamie – you’ll get to know them more very soon. Rowan is a spare of Cait Styxlady’s A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss – an excellent completed DITFT story, well worth your time! She offered him up as part of the casting call I had. I wasn’t sure where to place him at first, but I’d also had the idea of having Jamie Jolina in the hood, slightly older, with a man but no kids. Rowan seemed like he might fit the bill nicely.

Originally I thought Jamie would be about 40 or so but I have several sims in that bracket, so I’ve made her late 20s instead. I wasn’t anticipating playing her and Rowan, but when I did the ROS, they were the household designated ‘full control’ (i.e. I need to look after their needs, not story progression) so you’ll be seeing a lot of them in the earlier entries. I have no idea how their story will pan out. I made sure they were into each other (and they were – rolling up lots of flirt with each other etc wants) whilst shooting the prologue chapter before I committed them to each other, but they’re now boyfriend and girlfriend. Rowan is working at the science lab, but his LTW is to be the tinkerer and I am thinking about effectively turning him into the town handyman instead. They still live in Jamie’s house – but modified. I figured Rowan would have moved in and set to work on fixing and decorating – but you’ll see their house next time.